Old Habits Die Hard
by CharmingCharlie
Summary: I was sure she was a new student because I'd never seen her before. But I found myself both absorbed by her and resentful for it. She plagued my thoughts, and I was sure to be damned for it. Draco
1. Fear Me

I wrote my first fanfic when I was 13. Its been about 7 years, and I've been itching to write another. Now that I've got a little more smarts and skills than my once pathetic love story I wrote long ago, I thought I could give it another try. This story is meant to be taken from Draco's perspective. It goes against everything I am to write from a boy's perspective, which in my opinion can be so simple and un-details, coming from Draco Malfoy. But I hope to give readers the chance to see what I imagine is buzzing inside his head. Enjoy

Reviews Appreciated, so I know how I'm doing and if you're even captivated by it to want to know more.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, except for my O.C. All other belong to the amazing and inspiring JK.

CH. 1 Fear Me.

The smallest hand on the family heirloom grandfather clock in the hall seemed to tick a little more slowly now that I had my eye on it. It had been a long summer at Malfoy Manor, and I was impatient to finally leave this place I thought pathetic enough to call home. I had never really enjoyed the company of my parents, and their constant reminders of the 'Malfoy Code' of power and intimidation, as well as the unfailing loyalty to the Dark Lord, had driven me to a point of insanity. However, old habits die hard, and I knew that the use of fear among my peers at Hogwarts had rewarded me with my fair share of well-deserved reputations. For example: Prince of Slytherin, which my father was most proud to hear, and continually encouraged me through many letters to have others around me use it as well. I thought about what he had written me at the end of term last year, and how pleased with myself I had been that I had actually done something right in this vile man's eyes.

_Draco,_

_I hear there is a new 'Prince of Slytherin' among Hogwarts? Well done! How true those words ring for our family legacy! Salazar Slytherin himself will be triumphantly cooing in his grave. Although this is a stepping stone to greater things for you, remember what I have always said about instilling fear into those around you to gain respect. Use this last year at Hogwarts to gain followers for yourself and future Dark Lord members. _

_Lucious Malfoy_

This was the one thing I could do for my father, because I knew that my pride meant more to me than it did to him. I was smart enough to admit that. And I was good at bringing people down. I knew I was a menace to those around me, a monster. I had been raised that way my whole life, and knew from my mother's pained expressions that she too was victim to the monster in my father.

She hurried into the living room now, a look of relief on her face when she saw me sitting alone. It was dark in the house compared to the bright sun that tried to break through the black satin curtains. Only a few tall and slender pale buttery candles lit the room, their wax spilling over the sides of tables and books. I was sitting on the couch with my hands on my knees, waiting in anticipation to leave. Her eyes searched the room as she spoke.

"Draco, is your father not coming today?" She asked a little hesitantly.

"No" I breathed.

"Oh," She sighed, assessing the unpleasant scowl on my face. "Quickly, then, get in the car."

We both were looking forward to leaving, even if her journey meant she was to come right back. At least my stay was only temporary.

----

I was relieved to be sitting in my familiar compartment on the Hogwarts express, and lucky to be alone. I watched as others hugged family members goodbye, and gagged in my mind at the sight of it. I cursed under my breath wishing this damn train would leave a little faster, and thought about getting up and having a word with the conductor and let him have a piece of my...

"Draco!"

My peace was short lived. Blaise Zambini, and good friend, entered the compartment to join me. I looked up at him as if to mentally greet him, and he understood. I was not, however, happy to see Pansy Parkinson follow in behind him. I looked away and clenched my fists, remembering I hadn't written her all summer and would now have no excuse to give her for my absence. She had written me almost everyday, each with a smudge of a lipstick kiss in grotesque grape below her signature. Last week I stacked each letter which reached as high as the ceiling, and burned every one.

My relationship with Pansy was easy to deal with. Although she was annoying and completely attached, she was loyal to me. She took the fall for most of my mistakes, and stood up for me at every chance she could get. A little part of me was grateful, but that part was quickly washed away as soon as I caught sight of her and wished she'd never even existed. I wanted to be alone.

Now, sitting in this compartment, I would be subject to a painfully long ride to Hogwarts, along with a chirping, whining git.

'"Draco, love" she crooned in her unattractive scratchy voice.

She sat down so close to me I had to gasp for air, careful not to let her awful perfume choke my insides. I felt her lock one of her arms around mine in a clad iron grip.

_Definitely a long train ride, _I thought.

"You haven't written me all summer!" she complained, slowly emphasizing 'all.'

An ugly sob spread across her face, and I wondered why all along I was ever with her. Or really, let her speak in my presence. The fact that she was Slytherin meant nothing to me. And my father's approval of her family background, however poor she was, made my stomach turn. Since I was the Prince of Slytherin, surely I couldn't let myself be tied down to one girl my whole life? Pansy wasn't even really much to kiss...

I immediately tried to think of a way out, ignoring my fathers previous wishes to keep our families tied together "in strength" he had said.

"_Leave, pug, before I hex a permanent snout onto your face. And don't come crawling back!" _

No, no. Those were definitely not the right words, no matter how loud I was screaming them in my head. I thought of a better way to rid her, humiliate her. I would have to be patient.

"Well?" She said, clearly growing anxious for my reply.

"I was busy" was all I managed to say.

She let out a little 'humph' while I managed to break free of her stiff arm locked around mine.

"Go get a Daily Prophet for me" I demanded, staring straight into her eyes for the first time, with as much fear as I could muster.

She let out a small whimper and quickly exited the compartment, to which I let out the breath of air I had been holding since she walked in. Blaise moved awkwardly in his seat, ready to ask whatever questions he had, I was sure.

"Seen any of the fresh new witches yet?"

I knew he already had, probably even had their names down on paper. I frowned a little thinking that he had charmed them all before I had my chance. We were both trouble to all Slytherin girls. Hell, all girls for that matter.

"Definitely" I lied.

"I saw one girl I'd never seen before, but way too old to be a first year. She looks more like our year than anything else. Slytherin, and hot. Wonder where she came from?"

"Just keep Pansy out of my way. I'm already tired of her" I spat.

"Sorry mate, she followed me as soon as she saw me on the platform."

I smirked to myself, suddenly remembering my clever idea to be rid of her.

"What are you opinions on exploding cream charms?" I said with a little too much enthusiasm.

A smile spread across his face, and he knew what I meant.

----

I approached the doors of the great hall a little too late, as usual. They were massive in form, and I pushed them forcefully open together. I stood there for a moment, letting all the curious lookers appraise me, or fear me really. Both were decent options. The generally happy chattering among others dimmed down into whispers. With my hands shoved lightly into my pockets, I strode into the hall while Blaise trailed behind me, his ego not so triumphant as mine as he looked down, maybe to stop the staring? I couldn't fathom it. I caught the sight of a scowl over in the Gryffindor direction, probably Potter and his dweebs, but didn't look knowing it would give away my entrance. We both sat down at the head of the Slytherin table, and everyone snapped out of their stares, but with continued whispers.

"10 galleons says Pansy blows up her room after she finds out what you did" Blaise said.

I laughed at the thought of the magic we had just worked in her room, hoping she'd take a hint when she found out what was under her pillow.

After a boring amount of speeches and announcements, Dumbledore finally let us finish and go up to our rooms for the night. I thought about my class schedule for tomorrow while I picked at my half eaten glazed pork. Defense against the Dark arts, Potions, and Ancient Runes. The only thing I really looked forward to was potions. I had become quite the master at my studies in that class. Close to the mudblood, at least.

"Hey mate" Blaise said, tapping me on the shoulder as everyone began to exit the hall.

"There's that girl I was telling you about."

I looked around trying to find where his finger was pointed, not really interested. When I finally caught sight of her she had just rounded the corner out of my sight.

"Oh yeah" I said, pretending to act like I cared. I just wanted to get the hell out of this hall, annoyed that I would somehow get trapped between Pansy and her dim-witted friends.

"Shes a looker. Might try to find out what her name is" He said too fast to finish, and hurried off.

Damn it. Already up on his game, and here I was just standing there. I put my arms around the nearest girl I knew, a Ravenclaw I had hooked up with last term, and hoped to redeem myself in my mind. I couldn't remember her name, so I used my best charm to hopefully let it slide. Girls usually worked that way.

"Hey" I said in my silkiest voice.

She blushed a little when she realized who I was, and giggled to all her friends. She whispered a barely audible 'hey,' and I continued to walk her to the hall before I broke it off. We didn't speak, but I was glad of it. Some girls were simpler than I thought. After parting, I walked silently to the Slytherin tower, hoping I wasn't too late for my genius work of art.

I walked into the portrait mumbling "dragon scale" as it swung open for me to enter. I pushed one of the new boys out of the velvety green chair with the silver snake arms I liked to call mine. He was angry at first, but caught sight of my face as I grabbed him by the top of his robes out of the seat. I head him whimper 'sorry' but didn't really listen or care to acknowledge the thought.

'_What a waste of my time' _ I thought as I sank into the chair.

This place was pure hell for me. The thought of having to do any work this year was beyond all thought or my energy. It meant nothing, really. But top marks meant everything to my father, which was why after my 5th year of failing most of my classes he had threatened me. About what...well, I didn't even want to think about it. I had the highest grade in Slytherin now, and therefore had bragging rights with all the teachers which came in handy.

Before I could continue my thoughts, I heard a loud scream from upstairs, and smiled at the thought of what a state Pansy's hair would be in. Loud and thundering steps came down the stairs from the girl's dormitories, and I was surprised to see it wasn't Pansy who's hair was covered in a cream-like substance.

"WHO DID THIS!" the girl yelled.

I heard Blaise laugh quietly but loud enough for me to hear on the sofa next to me.

"Wrong pillow?" He whispered in my direction.

_Shit. _I thought.

Luckily, my chair had its back to whatever commotion this girl was about to make. I sunk into the back of the chair a little to hide my face from giving myself away.

As she stood there, you couldn't even hear the cringe of furniture or the rustling of papers. There was no sound except the few gasps of air the few new students inhaled closest to her. I heard her start to walk over to our side of the room and knew there was no way out of it.

"Nice look you got there" I said, laughing as she rounded the corner to stand in front of me. "New witches fashion?"

I silently appraised her body as she stood there, noting she was slender with skin so light it ought to be transparent. She was wearing her school robes, as was mandatory. However, her skirt seemed to hug the sides of her body in a very delicate manor. I frowned, knowing I couldn't see her probably lovely face since it was now covered by my own mistake. Her dark curls contrasted the white cream that now looked bunched and glued into her hair. The only thing you could really see on her face were a pair of strikingly green eyes, that looked so furious I thought they had belonged to a snake. I laughed at the though of it, and she let out of gasp when she realized my eyes were moving silently around her body.

"Do you think this is funny?" she questioned, still a little hint of hysteria in her voice.

"Definitely" I said smugly.

The last thing I remembered was flinching away from her hex when I realized her hand was gripped so tightly around her wand her knuckles were purple.

Thats when I woke up in the hospital wing, every muscle sore in my body.


	2. Painless

Thank you all for your encouraging reviews. It has helped me immensely to keep going. If you are a FanFic author reading this, please know that you are all my inspiration and the reason I write again!

Once again, this is Draco's mind. Although I love doing these kinds of perspectives, he is so incredibly hard! I am a very sweet and calm person, so for me to write in the mind frame of a snobby, "i got everything" Draco, this is a challenge. Bear with me as I grow and continue to review so I know how to better myself!

Disclaimer: Last time. You all know the lovely JK owns all these characters. I only own the plot and my OC, Emily!

The hospital wing was not a pleasant place. The nurse, Mrs. Pomfrey, was bossy and controlling, always wanting you to stay as long as you needed to recuperate. I never wanted to stay as long as she asked, knowing I'd be staring at the ceiling of the wing all day long.

The bed, however, was as stiff as a board and uncomfortable in every way. I picked up my left arm to grab the glass of water on the side table when I realized how thirsty I was, only to flinch back in pain.

"Ugh." I let out a sigh of frustration, and cursed low to myself.

"Watch your language, Mr. Malfoy"

I jumped up and looked around, only causing myself more pain in places I thought would be unaffected by whatever was wrong. My chest, my legs, everything hurt. After wincing a few times to make the pain go away, I noticed Mrs. Pomfrey standing over me.

_Where did she come from? Creep..._I thought.

"And please don't move. You will be sore in every bone for a good solid day" Mrs. Pomfrey said. "Please rest."

I didn't protest for once, and slowly lowered myself back down on the bed.

_A good solid day?!_ I thought. _Blimey._

She gathered her kit after she was finished tapping her wand around my body with some strange bottle in her hands. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain to go away.

After being preoccupied by my own pain for a moment, I suddenly remembered why I was in here in the first place.

_How the..._

Bloody hell, what had she done to me? I didn't deserve this punishment, even if her hair was all covered by that spell. This girl had put me in the hospital wing, all over a silly prank gone wrong. She must be mad to even consider doing this to a Malfoy.

I muttered to myself, things like "crazy" and "mental" before sleep finally consumed me and I dozed off. Mrs. Pomfrey must have noticed my stress before and had decided to knock me out for a while. I was mad when I thought about her tampering with my sleep, but was thankful once I was finally out.

After what felt like hours of a long and slightly uncomfortable sleep, I woke up. Somehow the clock above the medicine cart on the back wall said I had only slept for a couple hours, but I felt better already. I flexed my arms a little, still sore but not as painful as it was a short while ago.

I laid against the pillow looking the ceiling, thinking about the girl again and how much it frustrated me that she had done this to me. She was going to pay, even if she was a girl. I was afraid to say I was embarrassed, but I was. The whole common room had seen my demise. And I wasn't even conscious to get back at her. I thought about her again, and how she had looked so fragile and scary as she stood before me. I started to laugh a little to myself, realizing what a temper she had. It intrigued me, and I wanted to know a little more about why she had gone so far and looked so upset through her raging green eyes.

I tore my thoughts away from that because Blaise had just walked into the wing, an apparent laugh on his face as he caught sight of me on the bed. How embarrassing. He stopped at the foot of the bed and laid his hands down on the foot railings easily.

"Don't even start" I said angrily.

He stepped back a little, hands in the air in defense. After a moment he laughed to himself, and let his hands fall back down onto the railing once he realized how immobile I was in this damn bed.

"Bloody hell, mate" Blaise said, "Still cooped up in here, eh?"

"Yeah well do I look like I'm enjoying it?" I spat.

"I think so" He said with a laugh.

"Don't make me get out of this bed and beat you to a pulp" I said through gritted teeth.

"Easy there. You should be happy, you've have quite a few visitors, you poor thing" He said with triumph in his voice.

_Oh no. Pansy._

He must have seen the look of disgust on my face, and knew what it meant.

"Well yeah, Pansy too" Blaise said. "But thats not all. Half the Slytherin girl population tried to come in, although Pomfrey wouldn't let them."

I sighed and put both my arms back behind my head and rested on the pillow as I let the corner of my mouth pull up just a little to snigger. Blaise laughed along with me as we both contemplated the thought of hundreds of girls banging on the door of the hospital wing. I knew most of the girls in my Slytherin class, barely any by name of course. But the hysterics of it was indeed nice to think about. There would be plenty of sympathy talk with the herds later.

"And the girl came in. Still don't know her name. Bugger" Blaise said, looking away and sighing after.

I perked up, remembering how angry I was at her that she had put me in this place. She'd pay for that later.

"Little git."

"She actually looked like she was afraid when she came in. She hovered over your bed like it was your last breath. Strange" Blaise said, dumbfounded. I was too.

I was angry at her, and she must be angry at me. Why would she ever come in here to see me after I humiliated her? She was strange. She probably was in a whole heap of trouble as well. That pleased me a little at least.

"You'll never guess too, she got out of punishment" Blaise said.

"NO. How?!" I shouted.

"Don't ask me. Just what I've heard" Blaise said, shrugging.

"I'mgettingouttahere" He said in a rush before I could ask.

And as soon as he out the wing door, Pansy stood where Blaise had at the foot of my bed. He must have seen her coming.

Or heard her, since she was sobbing so loud in front of me.

"Oh Draco." She cried.

"How awful, what a terrible thing to do to you" She said after blowing her nose loudly.

"It's nothing" I breathed through my clenched teeth.

She moved closer to me and stopped near the side of the bed, her hand out reached for mine. I just sat there, trying not to look at her. She let out a "hmph" and backed away, still blowing her nose after a few sniffles. She spoke again.

"I'm going to find that girl, Emily, and kill her myself! You will have nothing to do with her again and I'll make sure she never hurts you!"

There it was, her name. Emily.

I tossed it around in my head a couple times, letting it play softly in my head of how I would say it. I wanted to let it roll off my tongue, but something caught it inside of my chest and crushed it; a low hiss came out instead. I was still angry with her.

Pansy had her head cocked to the side as I weighed in the girl's name, noticing my unusual half smirk quickly turned mean. She began to tap her foot impatiently and I remembered why I had gotten myself in this mess with Pansy in the first place.

"That jinx was meant for you, Pansy." I snarled.

"M-m-me?" She stammered.

I began to see what was about to happen gather heavily in the corners of her eyes. Bloodshot red and hurt.

Well, when it rains, it pours. And Pansy let out a whole mess of cries before throwing her used up handkerchief at me and stomping out of the wing. Before she slammed the door shut behind her, she looked back and yelled.

"I never want to see you again Draco Malfoy!"

The banging of the door was all I could see, and Mrs. Pomfrey eyed me from her office to see the commotion with a doubtful look on her face.

I was not happy about being broken up with, I usually did that task. At least, thats what just happened, right? It did in my mind. But at least she was out of my sight, possibly forever. I rejoiced silently. I was however a little afraid of the poor girl Pansy would probably stalk to find, and wondered what she would do to her.

_She had better do nothing to her, or else._

---

I was finally cleared the leave the hospital wing in the morning, mostly because of my own complaints and threats to Mrs. Pomfrey. She had insisted I stay longer, but once seeing that I was having nothing of it, finally let me go. Luckily, first day of classes hadn't even ended yet. I had missed Ancient Ruins and DADA, but that was the least of my worries. I was glad that when I entered back into the halls, the only class left for the day was Potions.

Several girls upon my re-entrance to the halls came up to me and asked me how I was feeling. I thought of Blaise and the whole Slytherin girl population trying to get in the wing and laughed. Some of the girls comforted me with things like "are you ok?" and "how are you feeling?" I didn't have to answer much as I walked to Potions, and I was glad.

Snape must have been late, because all our class were still waiting outside the dungeon. The third floor was now crowded, and as I walked past everyone hearing "Hey Draco!" and "Hi Draco" from other Slytherthins. A group of Hufflepuffs stood with a group of Gryffindors in a huddle, staring at me and whispering. I stopped in front of them to see if anyone in their group would say anything, trying to egg them on with my stiff stare, but they all just looked away.

_Funny,_ I thought.

Snape finally made after being five minutes late, not apologizing for his lateness. In a rush, he entered the dungeon quickly with his robe swaying behind him. I stopped before I entered the room, noticing in the corner of my eye a dark haired girl with crystal-like skin. She clutched her books in the corner of the hall, with a dark shroud of her hair covering most of her face. Her cheeks burned red when she caught sight of me staring at her. Before I could say anything, another girl pulled me in the class room with the rest.

I shoved her hands off me immediately.

"Don't touch me" I said, breaking free of a girl named Rose I barely knew.

She had destroyed the small chance I may have had to speak to the girl who had hexed me last night. I wasn't going to forget that she was the one who had done it to me, either. I sat down in my seat next to Blaise at a table full of other Slytherins. I watched the girl enter the room, sitting down at another table full of Slytherins on the other side of the room.

I cast a glance over there quickly to see what she was doing, and we locked eyes. She burned red again in her cheeks, but I held her gaze there. From what I could see, her eyes looked apologetic, but her body was tense. I looked past her to see what could have caused that, and there sat Pansy breaking my stare away from the girl. I shot Pansy a scowl and we all turned away just as Snape began his lecture.

"What have you done?" Blaise whispered, noticing the small glass wall of tension break between the girl, pansy and I.

"Don't ask" I snapped.

"I heard Pansy dumped you."

"You did, did you?" I said, staring at Blaise now with intent eyes.

"Well..." He said, moving back slowly. "Thats what I heard."

I scoffed and let it go. I was already angry enough. Did I need the whole school blabbing about Pansy breaking up with me? What would that do for the Prince of Slytherin...

I tried to forget about what I would have to do after class to confront the girl. So I tried to focus on today's lesson: the draught of delusions. It was and easy potion to follow along, and I could tell that Snape was not in the least bit interested in watching over us. Blaise and I worked silently, as well as the rest of our table, while others chatted. I couldn't seem to keep my concentration all in one place, which caused me to frequently look over at Pansy's table, making sure she was keeping in order with the girl. I wouldn't let Pansy get away with anything.

Class was dismissed after what seemed like an eternity. I turned to Blaise to explain.

"I'm going to speak to her. I'll catch up with you later."

He gave me a confused look and an "ok."

After picking up all my things, I turned towards her table; empty, of course. Hopefully Pansy wasn't out there doing anything I would hate to see. I walked swiftly out of the room in large strides in a hurry to catch up with the girl first, just in case. I caught sight of the back of her chocolate curls halfway down the hall and walked quickly to catch up with her.

"I think you owe me something" I breathed into her ear as I strode next to her and matched her pace.

She froze, looking slightly confused before realizing it was me. I stopped a couple feet in front of her realizing she had stood stiff in place some paces behind me. Thats when her cheeks touched pink at the sides, a pattern I now noticed. Was it out of embarrassment for the number she had done to me to put me in the hospital wing? It had to be. What else? Maybe it was fear. At least that would have made sense to me.

"I'm sorry" she said, making her voice go to shambles in nervousness.

I half smiled, laughing at how easily she had given in, but kept myself in check by keeping a straight face quickly after as to not give myself away. She went to turn around to make a run for it, but I forced my hand down on her shoulder to stop her from getting away.

"Do you really think the Prince of Slytherin would let you off the hook just like that?" I said in disbelief. She was fun to tease.

Her green eyes grew bigger as she took in what I said, and her cheeks once again went pink; this time I think in anger.

"You think you're Emperor around here. Well, now I take my apology back. You deserved it" she huffed.

I was shocked by her response. Was she speaking to me like that? But I remembered how she had looked in the common room when she had realized it was me who had pranked her. She had looked like a furious kitten, which made me laugh just thinking about it. I tried to think of a way to seem polite for once as not to prompt her into getting upset. I remembered her name, and also how it had felt so strange when it played in my mind. I tested myself to see if my inner snake would not let it escape again from my mouth.

"Emily, is it?" I asked rather nicely this time.

"Yes." She said dumbfounded.

"But, how did you know my name?"

I realized she had never actually introduced herself, so how could I have possibly known her name. I must have seemed like a stalker, but how could she expect it from the Prince. I knew every girls name.

"Are you new?" I said.

She looked at me in disbelief and stormed off. I didn't chase after her, confused at what I had said wrong. She was sure temperamental. But it intrigued me. Again I felt that longing to know more about her. I'm not sure how I had forgiven her so easily. But it was painless. And I was not a person to easily let things go.


	3. Helpless

I was glad that Potions had been the last of the day for classes. I walked slowly to the Slytherin common room before dinner, hoping to get some rest as I still felt a little sore...and a little dumbfounded as well.

_What had I said wrong to her?_

I racked my brain trying to think of all the possibilities. I knew that most things out of my monstrous mouth are in fact vicious, but I knew for myself that what I had said to her was not. I had asked her if she was new, and she had stomped away like a hurt puppy. How was that mean? She was new...right? These questions in my head only made me want to find her and ask her. So that I knew for myself how her mind worked. Most girls were simple, but I feared she was not.

For example, Pansy was easy to read. She wore her emotions right on her jumper, and you could tell exactly what was coming from her just by the expression on her face.

But I pushed the thought of knowing Emily out of my mind.

She did know I was Draco Malfoy, right? I would tear her apart.

When I finally reached the common room it was a little more crowded than I had expected. I tried to make a quick dash for my room before being sighted, but I moved too sluggishly realizing I was sore still. This hex seemed to linger a little too long...

"Draco!"

"Hey Draco"

I stopped and noticed Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy all sitting in the common room together on the couches. Pansy got up quickly and practically threw herself at me. I cringed away immediately.

"Oh, Draco"

"What are you doing?" I spat, peeling her arms back from around my shoulders.

"I missed you" Pansy sighed, while trying to find any possible way to touch me.

I decided it best say nothing. But I wondered, had she already forgotten about the hospital wing?

"Blaise, is that Emily girl new?" I asked.

I pushed Pansy aside and made my way over to where Blaise was sitting. He was sitting with his legs over the black coffee table with a pillow under his feet. I heard Pansy huff and straighten out her robes before sitting down on the couches again, away from me.

"Dunno, mate" He said, looking at me with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Why do you care about _her,_ Draco" Pansy said.

"You aren't..." Blaise trailed, sensing my eagerness.

"No...no" I said, throwing my hands up in the air, not sure where to go next.

I must have sounded like an idiot. Since when did I ever need to find out about a girl? I usually took matters into my own hands and did it all myself. I suddenly felt helpless in the situation.

"Good. You know I take back what I said too. I'm not really sure I like her anymore. After what she did to you. She seems a bit crazy if you ask me" Blaise continued, while fiddling with his fingers in front of him.

"Yeah, well I'm not, am I?" I said, clenching my teeth.

I turned away to go up to my dormitory, and walked briskly up the staircase. I heard them whispering as I got to the top, which made the hair on my arms strand up.

"Keep your mouths shut!" I yelled down the stairs. They must have stopped because I heard nothing after that, just Pansy's annoying laugh. They must have noticed my strange behavior, but I didn't know how else to ask Blaise about her.

I shut the door hastily after me, and kicked one of my shoes that was laying sideways on the floor.

_Why is everyone such a prat? _

I looked up and noticed my silvery white owl waiting for me near the window. She cooed a little, stretching out her hand which held a perfectly sealed envelope with the Malfoy seal on the front.

_Bloody hell... _

I closed my eyes and pinched my temple, hoping to take away the headache already surfacing.

I snatched it out of her hands, causing her to flap her wings and flinch back in fear. I realized her uneasiness, and softly stroked her to calm her down.

I reluctantly opened the letter, not sure what to expect this time from my father.

_Draco,_

_ The most alarming news has reached me from the Parkinson household. I'm not _

_quite sure how you were planning to explain this, but you know we have already _

_arranged for you and Miss Parkinson to be together. Therefore, you have no excuses or _

_explaining. Abide by these commands, or you will serve the consequences over holiday. _

_We have plenty to keep you busy with and away from your friends. She is a woman _

_Draco, start acting like a man._

_ Luscious Malfoy_

The letter quickly explained why Pansy had been so forgiving in the common room. She was after my families money, and so her mother must have written back in assurance as well. Just when I thought I had gotten rid of her. I wasn't sure if my father would ever let that happen, but I knew I had to.

I crumpled the letter and threw it against the window. It frightened my owl again, but I ignored her this time and hastily laid down on my bed.

-------------------

I woke up to the sound of my owl fluttering, and caught sight of the time. I was a little late for dinner, but knew I had better get down there if I wanted something. I sitll had my reputation to keep up. I got up slowly from my bed and tried to open my sleepy eyes. I put on my shoes lazily and headed for the great hall.

A thought passed through my head as I walked alone in the corridors...

I knew that the girl would also be down at dinner, and I felt my heart pound a little harder against my chest as I thought about that.

But I shoved that out of my head, shaking it to clear my thoughts. How could I even consider talking to her? My father alone was enough proof that she should be kept away from me. I would undoubtedly hurt her as well, in more ways than one. My character would show her that. And I didn't want to think of what my father would do, seeing as how set on Pansy he was.

I entered the great hall, immediately seeing the group at our usual seats. I briskly walked over, muttered some heys to a group of girls that always took an interest in my arrival, and sat next to Blaise. I noticed a first year laughing with his two friends down at the end of the table. I had been so put off earlier by my frustation with the girl that I had a lapse of anger in me. Without thinking, I got my wand out and Blaise noticed, first glancing down at my side where it was, and then where I stared at the first years.

I gave my wand a good smack in the air and said the first spell that came to mind.

The pumpkin juice he had been holding high above his head, swirling around like it was a baton, came crashing down on him and his two friends. The heavy goblet had crashed on top of his head causing him to slump to the side.

Blaise slightly punched the side of my shoulder. "Good one" He said.

Everyone else laughed while the boy looked around thoroughly embarrassed. I breathed in a sight of contempt, and I felt my chest purr at the delight. One of his friends must have seen me producing the spell, because all three of them looked over at me and quickly away. They had realized nothing could be done. You didn't retaliate with the Prince. I felt a little back to my normal self, shedding away that unknown side I wasn't sure of.

I smirked, looking around at all the laughs and even heard some claps. The rest of the houses looked furious, all paused to see the commotion. I hadn't noticed Pansy had been sitting next to me, but she clenched my side, wrapping her arms around me tightly. It was annoying, but I ignored it.

When the three boys had finally cleaned up their mess, I felt a pair of eyes burning in my direction. She was staring at me with those bright green eyes, with a look of raging anger similar to the night she had hexed me. Emily quickly looked away with a look of disgust after she saw me smirk at her. I frowned, not really sure if I should have smiled.

What was wrong with me? Smile?

Pansy saw the awkward exchange and growled. She immediately got up from her seat and walked over to where Emily sat.


	4. Kind Gesture

_I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've been super busy with classes, and trying to figure out where to take this story. I've been so inspired by others writers, and just wanted to make sure my story could live up to the expectations of a Draco story. Review appreciated!_

**Kind Gesture.**

I watched Pansy stalk over to the girl and abruptly stop with her hands crossed over her chest. She was too far down the Slytherin table for me to really hear what she was saying, but Pansy was throwing her arms in the air which said it all. Pansy had always been possessive over me, and after all these years I didn't mind it. But right now with my father's letter looming in my mind, and the fact that I really hated her made me feel a little sorry for the girl who was shyly playing with her food as Pansy shouted insults at her.

All of a sudden, I saw the girl quickly get up and pour her goblet right over the top of Pansy's head. The people close by all "oooh" at the scene which caused more people to turn their heads and look around. It spilled all the way down her face and clothes, while Pansy had a disgusted look in her face like she was ready to kill.

I sat there in awe at the situation. I had no idea the new girl was so...daring?

_Huh_, I thought.

The girl mouthed something to Pansy and brushed past her with a small smile barely at the corner of her mouth. She passed by us as well and I found myself having a hard time keeping my eyes off her in shock.

"Don't let a fly in there" Blaise said as he tapped my mouth shut.

I snapped it shut quickly and clenched my teeth. Why was Blaise so annoying right now? I hoped he wouldn't think I was onto anything with the girl. I punched him in the shoulder and spat out a "Shut up" quietly.

I looked up and saw Pansy still standing in the same place where she had been left, but she quickly turned on her heels after the girl. I was positive after that move there was sure to be a fight. Pansy was not even tempered.

She had her wand out as she raced after the girl, still dripping juice on the floor from her spill. As soon as Pansy reached the girl she grabbed her hair from behind and dragged her to the ground. All the students in the great hall had now stood up, blocking my view from the scene.

Before I could think about what I was doing, my feet sprinted over to the two girls. I pushed past the crowed and all the loud cheering and screaming going on and managed to break through in the circle. Pansy was standing over the girl with her wand at her throat, laughing.

I drew my wand swiftly, and whispered the words no one could hear.

"Stupefy"

A jet of red light spat out of my wand and hit Pansy square in the chest, where she fell over stunned.

The whole crowd went silent, and I heard Blaise whisper near me in a confused voice.

"Why did you do that?"

"I----" I stammered.

I thought about what he asked, and realized I didn't really have an explanation for defending a girl that had previously hexed me into the hospital wing. Did that really just happen? I stunned the girl I had been linked with since the start of my years here, the one who my family thought I should be matched up with. Pansy would be furious, and I would not want to be around for that.

I sighed and felt my insides relax at the relief like I had lifted something heavy off my shoulders. But everyone was still glaring like I had done something strange.

I looked down at the girl still on the floor, avoiding my eyes. I noticed she had the same rosy cheeks flushed on her face like the two other times I had seen her. I broke my gaze from her face, and pushed through the crowd to get away from the speculation.

I sat in the common room before bed thinking about the situation from dinner earlier.

My prank on the first years had gone horribly wrong, because Pansy had seen the girl glare at me. Shortly after a spilled cup of juice on Pansy's clothes and a sprint to get to the middle of the crowded groups shouting for a fight, I had defended Emily.

Normally in this situation I would have watched and laughed, but before I could even think about the consequences I had leap up from my seat to rescue her.

"_I'm going mad_" I said to myself.

Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle had all come up to me after the incident and asked the same thing.

"Are you crazy?" "That was Pansy!" "Wait till your father hears about this," They had said.

"I---I didn't do anything. Pansy is annoying so I wanted to show her that I am the Prince. You don't cross me" I retorted.

"You rescued the girl. You don't even know her!"

"I didn't rescue her!" I shouted. I heard the lie in my voice as it left my tongue. Frustrated by the girl and this problem she was creating for me, I clenched my fist and slammed it down on the arm of my chair.

"Get out of here and stop trying to act like my mother before I hex all of you like I did Pansy!" I shouted at the three of them.

They left and I was relieved to be alone in my thoughts.

I didn't rescue the girl. Where did they get that from?

_No. Definitely not. _

She was just in the way when I needed to push Pansy aside. Pansy was on my nerves, and I didn't care what my father wanted, I was through with her. She was annoying, ugly, and a terrible kisser.

I could free myself to be single again, anyways. Not that I practically wasn't already. I had cheated on Pansy many times.

I broke away from my thoughts when I heard a shuffle from behind me.

"Thank you" I heard.

I looked up and saw the girl looking down at the ground in front of me. She was blushing again, and twiddling her fingers as they rested in front of her. Her dark hair folded partly in front of her face while the rest laid on the skin of her shoulders.

"Sorry?" I said.

She looked up at me this time, making eye contact so piercing it was hard to break away from her gaze.

"Thank you" she said again, blushing a deeper shade of red.

I scoffed at her, and tried to think of something to say. But as I tried to say something, anything, my tongue felt like it had been tied together, and my head in knot.

"It wasn't for you" I said, not looking at her now.

She frowned, and turned to walk up the stairs. I watched her move slowly back up to her room and disappear into the dark.

_Dammit_, I thought.

I got up from my chair and kicked the side of it, mad that I had taken it to that level and been mean to her. She had thanked me, and what had I done?

I was a terrible person to have made that frown come across her lovely face.

_No,_ I said to myself angrily.

I didn't even deserve to call her lovely.

I walked up to my room and laid down quietly in my bed. What would come of me? I felt myself wondering what Emily was doing right now. Probably asleep of course. But my mind still wandered. There was something that kept me wanting to see her.

But I couldn't. I cringed at the thought of my father's reaction to Pansy's over dramatic recall of the night. I would be dead. But I didn't care right now. My thoughts only drifted towards a girl with green eyes.


	5. Going Mad

_Summer is here! And I am so looking forward to developing this story. Please review to keep me motivated! Let me know your praises, or critiques!_

Ch. 5 **Going Mad**

As I expected, the next few weeks were miserable. Blaise had questioned me almost everyday about why I had hexed Pansy. But I didn't have an answer. How could I? I was still trying to ask myself the same question.

"Draco, I don't understand" he had said one day.

"Blaise. For the last time lay off! Its been a week and you're still being a prat. Stop acting like a little girl. I don't have an answer or explanation for you!"

Had I rescued the girl? Surely not. I tried to consider if my actions had really been worth it. Well of course they were. I had stopped Pansy from hurting the girl. Pansy had deserved it. Right?

My father of course had written me a lovely letter about the situation.

_Draco,_

_Please explain to me why I keep hearing that you are treating Pansy so? Her mother is furious with you, and although she would not speak of the incident, I expect you to fix this problem. I do not want to hear from her anymore. We must keep our reputation upheld, and you must keep Pansy closely by your side as a companion. I am not asking you to love her, I am asking you to collect her and keep her there._

_Lucius_

My father was not one for conversation. I had known that my whole life. Even my mother could not hold a decent conversation with him. It was always about our reputation, our legacy, etc. He usually just gave out orders, and I was always to abide by them. However, his letter had struck a cord with me, and I didn't want to write back. I didn't want to listen to him, and there was no way I would ever speak to Pansy again. He would be furious, of course, but I was willing to take that risk to get away from his forceful hand.

Pansy had tried to follow me around school after the incident. She tried to catch my attention whenever she could, but I kept a close eye out and avoided her in every place I could.

I was in Charms one day, and as the professor let us out for the day I heard her screech behind me,

"Draco! Yoo Hoo!"

I quickly got myself in the middle of a crowd of students and ducked behind a statue in the corridor, escaping from her catching sight of me. I waited until I was certain she had passed, and came out from behind the statue.

As I was looking the other way to check Pansy was gone, I felt something hard collide with me. I turned towards the offender, and saw books splashed all over the floor. Paper was still falling slowly to the ground, and they muffled my vision.

"Watch it!" I yelled, collecting myself.

I straightened my robes angrily, and tried to see what pathetic person had ran into me. They would surely get an earful from me. The Prince never let anyone go easily.

"I'm sorry" a soft voice said.

I squinted my eyes, and to my surprise I saw Emily on the floor frantically picking up her things.

I stood there in shock, not sure if I should help her or just run in fear of me saying something ridiculous. It wouldn't have been the first time I had said something stupid to her, and I was determined to make things right.

She looked up at me, red faced and with the most apologetic eyes I had ever seen.

I felt something inside me soften, and it held me dumbstruck by the feeling. My eyebrows slowly eased out of being furrowed, and the frown on my face lost its hold.

"Its...its alright" I managed to muffle out.

I wasn't sure she had heard me, because she still looked terrified and was rushing to pick up her things.

I bent over and picked up one of her papers. It was one of our Charms essays turned in last week, with the highest mark circled at the top.

"Wow. You did very well on the essay." I said, turning to her and showing her the paper.

I held out the paper for her, and she slowed what she was doing and took it from me slowly.

"Thank you" she said, clearly apprehensive of me. I wouldn't have expected less. The last time I had seen her I had rejected her thank you.

I waited for her to say something else, so that I didn't have to hold a conversation I would regret. But she said nothing. We were both frozen on the floor, while she made eye contact occasionally, and looked around blushing.

"Are you any good at charms?" I said without thinking. I didn't know where I was going with this...

My mind was working frantically, trying to think of anything, any word or topic I could say to her. I felt my heart beating wildly, and I waited anxiously for her reply. I closed my eyes and realized I was feeling a little mad. Something foreign to me was going on in my body I had never experienced.

But I was familiar with the feeling of unknown. I had an ease of charming any girl. That part of my ego was fighting to break out from this uncharacteristic softness.

_Soft? _I said to myself.

_How Pathetic..._

I felt a little sick at the thought.

She started to finish picking up the rest of her books.

"A little. I like charms." She said.

She was definitely modest. I wondered at that. Was she like that? Was that what her personality was like? Was she a quiet person too? Or was she just someone who hid on the inside?

I felt my insides ache to know the answers. And then I thought of an idea of how I could get them.

"I'm actually really terrible. Have you started the next essay on the history of the Auguamenti charm?"

"Not yet, but I have an outline drawn out" She said. "Do you need any help?"

And there it was. My answer. The key to getting to know her.

I pleaded with my mind that it would allow me the justice of doing so. So that I could know her. But my mind quickly reminded me of the consequences of being seen with her, and what Pansy would do. And of all the trouble she had caused in the past weeks of starting school.

"I...I can't" I said sadly.

I hated myself for having to give her that answer. She had offered to help me, me of all people! The one who had pranked her on the first day of school. The one who had no doubt rescued her from Pansy, but also gave her no answers as to why I did. And the one who had rejected her thankfulness over the situation. Surely her impression of me was not a good one.

But she had no idea how much I wanted to see her. And I was mad at myself for having to let her down so cruelly.

She was also kinder than I had taken her for. And I was grateful she was not someone who seemed she could be played easily. Half the girls in the school practically gave themselves away for the chance to be seen with you, or rumored so. But I had never thought of her that way.

She stood up which prompted me to do the same. She looked shyly down at her feet with a sad expression on her face. Did she look just as pained as I did? I wasn't sure if I had caught that expression because it disappeared off her face before I could say something.

"Oh. Ok" She said.

I wanted to apologize.

Apologize? Yes. I had definitely gone mad.

She turned around slowly and I muttered under my breath a handful of words not appropriate enough to say around a girl. I turned around in the opposite direction, furious with myself, and headed back into the common room.

After a long day of classes, I found myself uninterested in my school work. I had barely caught any of the lessons, and was interrupted plenty of times during class when the teacher had seen me staring off into another direction. This had happened particularly in potions with Snape. She was in that class, and I found it hard to concentrate on the assignment before me without looking over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of her.

She once had caught my gaze, while we both quickly looked down tried to seem as if the other had not been caught, and Snape had seen the interaction.

"Draco, please keep your attention ahead. Your classmate does not have the answers to my assignments" he said, looking to where Emily sat.

Luckily Snape had let the situation go. Since he was known to pull the embarrassment into any situation, I was relieved he had let it go and not further questioned me.

But Snape was not the only person to notice my lack of focus. Blaise had noticed this throughout the day as well.

"Draco!" he said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"No...I didn't" I said, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"What is going on with you lately? Do I need to take you to St. Mungos?"

"Ha ha" I said, trying to pretend to be in the conversation now.

"Your walking around with some kind of wretched face on. Like you're about to be sick."

So he had noticed. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. Blaise was a little over-cautious and aware of things that went on. He almost always caught on to moods by others, and loved to point them out.

I laughed at his description of my attitude. "Sick" he said. He was dead on, because I felt sick to my stomach as soon as Emily had turned around from me.

I perked up after this realization, and tried to think of a way to convince him otherwise.

"What do you say we pull a little prank on someone in the corridor?" I said with a smirk on my face.

"Now thats what I'm talking about!" He said with excitement. "What's the plan?"

Blaise and I had spent the rest of the afternoon ditching our last class, and playing pranks on some first years as they left their class rooms for the day. I had tried my best to seem interested, and I thought I did a pretty good job of convincing Blaise that I was my normal self. After we had dinner in the great hall, he seemed all too exuberant of the days work.

"Good day, mate. Those exploding charms you found at the joke shop were the perfect tool to use on those first year coming out of the 5th floor bathroom!" He said as he patted my shoulder.

I half smirked and crossed my arms.

"Lets go back to the common room and have a good time with some girls" He said.

We walked back to the common room together, passing the classrooms, some bathrooms, and the library. I didn't see much of the library, but as we walked past it I saw Emily inside, with some papers sprawled over the desk she was sitting at. She looked to be concentrating hard, and I laughed to myself.

Blaise, of course, saw this.

"Whats so funny?"

I had decided what I was going to do as soon as I saw her. Something leapt inside me, and I had to keep a serious look on my face as not to give myself away to Blaise.

"I'll meet you in the common room in a minute" I said, gazing into the library at her.

"O...k?" He said.

Blaise tried to follow my gaze, but gave up as I walked away from him.

I wasn't sure what my plan was. And my hands started to sweat as my mind thought of a million things that I should say.

She was sitting at the desk very quietly, with one hand laid against her head as her brown curls spilled onto the desk. Her pale skin glowed in the low light, and I stopped a long way short of her desk as I took in her figure. I almost thought about turning around and hiding, just so that I could watch her. But I realized that was about the stupidest thing I had ever considered.

Where had I gone so soft? It was ridiculous. All I had to do was march up to her and demand that I get my answers.

I straightened myself up, and shoved my hands in my pocket preparing myself. I strolled over towards her desk in a way that killed most girls. Unfortunately, she didn't even see me approach her desk, so my charm had been killed immediately. She was so engrossed in her work I had to clear my throat to catch her attention.

She jumped in her seat, and flushed those pink cheeks that I had been waiting to see. Once again I found the part in my chest that normally purred at the chance to steal her had softened, and the part of me that wanted to command her to talk to me and to fall all over me vanished.

"Hi" I said softly.

"Hi" she said, a little squeaky from the surprise.

"I wanted to ask if I could change my answer from earlier" I said.

"What?" she said, confusion spreading on her face.

"The part about me saying no to you helping me with my essay" I said as I gave her a smile that begged to win her over.


	6. De Luc

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I was really having a writer's block, and I was unhappy about it! I shortened this chapter in an effort to get it off my plate so I could start anew with Ch. 7. I hope you all enjoy this!**

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I was lucky that Emily had agreed so easily to helping me with my paper. I didn't need the help, but any chance at getting to speak to her was a chance I had to take. In fact, I knew that if I really did need help I would have been in trouble right away. It was hard to concentrate around her. Her brown curls smelled of something sweet with a hint of lilac. It was a smell I had never experienced, and it attacked my lungs like it was there to penetrate me. And every so often she would touch her curls softly and move it to the other side of her shoulder causing me to lose concentration all over again.

_Damnit. _I thought, regaining consciousness yet again.

_You're losing all your edge, Malfoy. What would father think of you?_

"So when you put..." Emily said, explaining something I already knew about. Her voice drowned out of my mind, and I found myself just watching her with intent eyes.

It would have been rude of me to interrupt her, so I nodded my head at the appropriate times so she knew I was understanding.

But our conversation was only on the paper so far, and I had some questions I wanted answers to.

"Emily" I said, saying her name with a soft touch most girls drooled for.

"Remember that time I asked you if you were new here and you stormed off?" I asked.

"I did not storm off" she stated, keeping her eyes on her own paper and writing quicker now.

She was always one to kill my game. Whenever I tried to use something to my advantage, such as right now, as I lulled my eyes in a charming manner, she was either not aware or missed it entirely. It was incredibly frustrating.

But I knew to try harder with her.

"It was very cute, whatever it was that you did" I said.

She didn't reply, but a small smile escaped her lips, and she tried to concentrate on her paper once more by pulling her lips together tightly. That had caught her interest, at least. I could feel my adrenaline running, knowing I could say the right words to get an answer out of her if I wanted. I flexed a little.

"Thats besides the point, really. What I wanted to know was the answer actually, since you never did tell me." I said, sliding her parchment away from her.

She immediately looked up at me and attempted to snatch the parchment back, but I was too quick. She eyed me dangerously.

"Fine. If you must know, I'm not new" she said, snatching the assignment back out of my hands too quickly for me to retaliate with.

"What?" "How is that possible?" I scoffed.

"I've been going here for as long as you have" she said.

"Then why haven't I seen you? I know everyone."

She eyed me then, although I wasn't sure why.

"Thats right. You would know everyone. You probably know every girl, a little _too_ well as I've heard" she said coolly, looking down at her paper and writing again.

I was a little shocked at her comment, which she seemed like a brave thing to say to a Malfoy. But I guess I did know every girl in school, whether or not I knew them 'too well' as she put it, was...true, I suppose. I guess I had had a taste of everything. I smirked to myself.

"You haven't seen me because you probably don't recognize me. I've had a lot of changes over summer break. Something to do with the witch genes in my mother that everyone in her family goes through" she explained thoughtfully.

I didn't respond, trying to scan through the names of girls at Hogwarts. It shouldn't be hard...Slytherin girls, that had narrowed it down at least. Emily...

There were about three Emily's at Hogwarts I knew in Slytherin. One was a girl that had left already, so she was out of the question. The other had red hair, and someone I had snogged last year after Pansy had irritated me one night. So it couldn't have been her. And the other Emily...

_No. _I thought.

Emily Le Duc?

_Definitely not. _

But, there was something familiar about her that I noticed now. I thought back to the last school year and a memory I had of her. She was at a quidditch match when I had passed her walking across the castle grounds. Her hair was jet black, and very straggly. Her face was shaped more like a square gone wrong, and she wore thick rimmed glasses. The way she dressed and her figure were also one in the same. Untidy, and un-proportionate. I had hardly ever talked to her, and I think on occasion I had copied off her notes. How sly of me...

I remembered the quidditch day clearly. Pansy was with me and she had snapped a remark at Emily as we walked by.

_"What are you staring at!" Pansy yelled. _

_She clinged to my arm as I watched the girl nervously shift her eyes down to the ground._

_Pansy bumped shoulders with the girl a little too card, causing her books to spill across the grounds...  
_

I snapped out of my memory and looked back at the present Emily, quite changed and unrecognizable.

I leaned back in my seat, trying to get a full glance at her. She had changed from the extremes. Her skin had a lovely pale complexion, with a soft glow to it to compliment the brown curls in her hair. Her legs and body were slender and sleek, long and fit. Her waist was tiny, and fit with her chest perfectly. Her face was now shaped like a heart, with defining cheek bones and the faintest of pink on them. And plump lips in the right place. I moved up to her eyes, noting they were the same shade of green I had described when I had first seen her this year in the common room with cream puff all over her pace.

She caught me then, and the pinks on her cheeks turned rose.

"Emily Le Duc" I stated, with a hint of fascination in my voice.

"So you've finally figured it out" she said.

"Well I must give my compliments to your mother some day" I said, appraising her body once again.

She glared at me with her snake-green eyes that tried to penetrate me.

"And do you plan on seeing my mother anytime soon?" she asked playfully.

_I like this game, _I thought.

"Only if you are there" I said, leaning close to her across the table.

She smiled with just her lips and leaned back in her seat. I frowned, noting the rejection of her body language. I slumped back in my seat.

She looked at my cautiously, and there seemed to be a bit of remorse in her eyes. I was baffled at how much she could show in so little an expression.

"I have to go. I have other homework and my friends are waiting for me to help them in the great hall" she said apologetically.

She began to pick up her papers, and I passed over a few of hers to add to her stack.

"Shame. The help on the essay was great" I said.

She smiled a little awkwardly, looking like she was not sure to run or stay.

"You're welcome" she said, biting her lip.

She turned towards the door and walked briskly out into the corridor, making sure to glance back to where I was sitting as she left the room.

I glanced around the library, slicking back my hair that had come undone, to make sure no one had seen me play so nicely with the girl. I didn't need Blaise or Pansy to hear any rumor's about my new found softness. She would be the death of me, I was sure. I let my head fall into my crossed arms on the table and let out a long sigh of relief_. _I was glad to have finally cracked the secret to Emily's being here at Hogwarts. She wasn't new, as I now knew, and I was surprised to find that she had changed so much.

But before I could dwell on it, I suddenly remembered that Blaise had wanted me to come with him to the common room. I quickly got up from my chair, and headed towards the Slytherin common room briskly.

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**AHA! Emily is not new :] Reviews appreciated! I need some lovin' to keep me goin'. **


	7. Mistakes

_Wow! I am completely embarrassed I went 5 months without updating! I was so engrossed with my semester at school, and reading other fics that I just totally blanked. It loomed in my head by I was not feeling creative enough, and I didn't want a forced story, most definitely. Thanks for sticking around and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews or just comments of continuation appreciated!_

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"Malfoy's here!" Blaise shouted as I came into the Slytherin common room.

I was still on some sort of high as I walked back to the common room, walking slowly with my hands in my pockets feeling like a king.

"Woah-hooo there" Blaise said, slapping my shoulder with a bottle of firewhiskey in his other hand.

"Whats got you all keyed up, mate?" he said.

I must have really not been paying attention as I walked in, because I had one look at the common room and it was a sea of Slytherins. I wiped the half-grin off my face and turned to Blaise.

"Nothing" I said shortly.

"Draco!" someone whined. "Draco over here!'

It could only possibly be one whine in the whole entire world I didn't want to hear at this moment.

Pansy was fighting across the other side of the common room to make her way over to Blaise and I.

"C'mon, Draco. Have a drink" Blaise said, noticing my terror as Pansy inched closer.

At this point Pansy was climbing over furniture and knocking into people, clearly intoxicated.

I took one look at Blaise's firewhiskey he held out to me and back to Pansy...

"One" I said, taking the drink.

"Thats what you say now. But 10 of these later..." Blaise said as he trailed off laughing.

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The next morning I woke up to the sound of arguing.

"_Dont touch my pillow with your feet!"_

"_I didn't touch anything! Anything! Freak"_

I sat up quickly to see who would be receiving a whooping from me by waking me up. Instantly, my head whizzed around and made my brain rack on the inside.

_Ugh_

I spotted Crabbe and Goyle tumbling around on the floor in an effort to wrestle, but not much was going on. It was pathetic really, watching them.

"Oi! You two! Get out" I shouted, clutching my head as I yelled loud enough to make myself go deaf.

"Oh c'mon Malfoy" Crabbe whined.

"If you can't keep quiet, get out before I make you quiet myself!" I shouted, again.

They both left sulkily. Why were they such babies?

I reluctantly got out of bed, cursing in my head why I was up so early on the weekend. After I had finished getting ready, I walked down to the common room.

I spotted Blaise in a chair around a group of girls, with his eyes half exposed over the Daily Prophet.

"Steady mate" Blaise said as he assessed my wince at the dimly lit common room.

It was in fact morning, but the Slytherin common room showed no signs of the outside changes in light, therefore it was always dimly lit. However, today it felt like someone had put 100 light-bulbs on all at once, shining right at me.

"I'm fine. But...I'm not really sure what happened. I don't remember a thing" I said, searching my brain for some signs of memory of the previous night.

Blaise laughed lowly to himself.

"Well" he said, still trying to make out what I was concentrating so hard over.

"Well...?" I said, staring at him, trying to get the answer out of him.

"Nothing" he said, lowering his eyes back on the paper.

I gave it a rest, realizing that nothing of major consequence had probably happened.

Leaving the common room, I made my way down to breakfast. For once I was clearly early enough, because not many people were in the great hall. I cursed under my breath that I would kick Crabbe and Goyle's royal...

"Hi"

I skidded to a stop in the middle of my concentrated, brisk walk, nearly tripping over my own feet. I knew whose voice it came from, which was why my feet tried to tangle themselves up and my mind start to race.

Well the feet tripping was probably due to some unexpected lack of equilibrium from the previous night.

_Why did I take Balise's drink?_ I thought to myself.

I turned around slowly, seeing Emily with a stack of books and a few papers clutched under her arm. She looked like she might have been running slightly, because she was a little out of breath as she approached me.

It made me wonder why she had been. Was she late? But it didn't matter, because the sprint had caused her dark brown hair to sit delicately on one side of her shoulder. It was straighter today, and her bangs swept softly over the side of her green eyes.

"Hi" I said softly, keeping careful I didn't break the word, or her.

"Bit early for books and papers, don't you think?" I teased, shoving a hand in my pocket.

She feigned a shocked expression, "Never!"

She laughed, and I did too.

It came easy, to my surprise. Was she this funny? Girls were never funny. Or funny and cute together. Maybe that's why this was laughable, because she was cute.

"I haven't eaten yet, want to join?" I asked.

She wobbled her head up and down, smiling as she did so.

We sat down in silence, sitting across from each other. This was good. I could see her directly across from me, so I could catch all her strange expressions that puzzled me all day.

"Did you help your friends last night alright after you left?" I asked, remembering she had left our paper writing session to help them.

"I did" she stated, buttering the toast she had grabbed.

I hadn't seen her in the common room last night with every living soul in attendance, it felt like. I wondered why, briefly, before asking.

"I didn't see you at all last night" I said. "You are a Slytherin, correct?" I teased.

She eyed me playfully. "Ha ha" she said.

"I heard all that commotion last night. Pretty wild. I was tired, anyways" she said distantly.

_Well thats a first. _I thought. Too tired for a party. It did fit, however. She seemed like the quiet type.

I watched her as she poured her tea, carefully adding the right amount of sugar to it with a spoon.

"Just like my mother" I said. "Shes very particular about her sugar."

My mind was confused at what I had just done. Divulged a family character?

_Strange._

"Well then I think we'd get along then" she said, smiling as she took a sip.

I regretted what I had said about my mother immediately once I heard her response. Although Emily would probably like my mother, no doubt, I couldn't help but remember my father as well. I imagined taking her there, meeting my mother, and having lunch together as they talked and laughed. But the memory of my father loomed over the table and wrenched it into darkness.

Yes, it was an awful idea.

My father would have taken this poor girl and turned her into a monster. Just like he had done with my mother. Realization sunk deep in me, and I was sorry that I had such a family to be dealt. I could not let her be a part of them.

We sat in silence, eating our breakfast. More people had started to filter into the hall, most looking half asleep. Especially the Slytherin side.

Emily had a paper out, as she ate her eggs and scribbled over sentences and while she wrote new ones over them. She looked very sweet and innocent as she looked down on her work, and I ached to get this dark feeling out of my chest.

I knew what I wanted to see, and how I could get it.

"You look lovely today" I said, still looking down at my plate.

Her head perked up quickly, and I slowly lifted my head to the side to steal a glance at her reaction.

She seemed startled for a moment, before realizing I had actually said that to her. And as I had hoped would happen, her cheeks touched a rosy pink while highlighting her pale skin.

"Thanks" she said quickly.

I stared a little longer at her blushed face as she continued to work, noting that this shade of pink was good. Not because she was embarrassed. She liked it.

"Draco!" a girl yelled.

Why were girls always yelling my name? Couldn't they just come quietly up to me instead of screeching across the great hall?

It was Pansy, I imagined. But what I could not imagine was why she was after me. After all, I was sure I had ran in another direction last night when I saw her tumble her way over to me.

Pansy made her way over to where Emily and I sat, while I hoped to make her conversation quick, whatever it was. I was in no mood to have her steal my time away.

But instead of what I expected her to do, which was cross her arms over her chest, pout, and complain about something I did wrong, she sat right next to me and plucked a kiss on my cheek.

I felt my face burn with anger immediately.

"Last night was _soo _great, Draco" Pansy lulled as she stared at Emily.

"Pansy, for the last time, we broke up. Now get away before you regret it." I said, trying forcefully to push her off me.

"That's not true. We made up last night. Or should I said...out" Pansy said, smiling wildly.

"What are you..." I questioned.

I cut off my sentence when a loud creak against the floor pierced my ears. Emily pushed back her seat and gathered her things quickly. Clearly there was some sort of mistake, and Pansy was playing a prank on me, as she always tried to do when she felt jealous. She knew from the moment I had hexed her over Emily last week that I had been up to something.

Before I could explain anything to Emily, she raced off.

Pansy laughed, clearly happy with her performance. She touched my face and stroked my arm.

"Well its true...you know. Just ask Blaise" she said.

I threw her hands off me and jumped out of my seat, ready to kill Blaise the minute I found him. So that's why he had laughed this morning? In my drunken state, had I snogged Pansy?

Thoughts raced through my head. Why would I have even done such a thing? I had been in a terrific mood after coming back from the library. Clearly, something was wrong with this scenario.

"Blaise!" I yelled coming back into the common room.

"Draco" he stated, still sitting in the same spot I had seen him in.

"What exactly happened last night?" I questioned him, crossing my arms over my chest angrily.

"Pansy find you?" He said.

"Did we...I mean. Did she...Did she kiss me? Did she force herself on me?" I asked, frantically trying to recall the nights events.

"You both snogged, and you were out of your mind of course. She was taking advantage of it. Why do you care? She is your girlfriend" Blaise said.

"WAS! She WAS my girlfriend, Blaise" I shouted. "She never even really was my girlfriend to begin with, you know that. I hate commitment."

"So what? Are you trying to tell me you didn't enjoy last night?" He asked.

"No, I did not. Not if this is what happened" I said angrily, storming out of the room and up to my dormitory.

I kicked aside the things littered across the floor, and ran back to slam the door shut. I wanted to be alone. My mind hoped that Emily had not taken Pansy's declaration so seriously, but I knew she was probably hurt.

Why did I always inflict some sort of pain on her? It was something I wanted least in the world. I laid on my bed face down and felt pain in my chest.

_Whats gotten into you? You've gone mental. Pansy is yours. Father expects you to uphold his standards and be with Pansy. Emily is nothing to you. _

I drifted to sleep, hoping I wold sleep into the night. I didn't want to face my reality.


	8. Confessions

**Hello all! Thanks for the reviews and here is another chapter to keep you going. I think I've held you off pretty well until this moment. Hopefully it will satisfy some cravings. **

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Ch. 8 Confessions

Slowly turning over, I noticed through my half-cracked groggy eyes that my clock read 2pm. It was awfully quiet in the dormitories to be 2pm.

_What had I done earlier this morning?_

A painful memory of Pansy plopping down and rudely interrupting my conversation with Emily this morning at breakfast surfaced.

_Agh_. I groaned, rolling my face into the pillow in an attempt to diminish the memory in my head.

But 2pm...? Why was that...

"No!" I shouted, sitting up in bed so fast my eyes went white. I clutched my head, closing my eyes and staring at the clock again through light sensitive vision.

I had missed two of my classes so far, including lunch.

After slowly getting out of bed, I hoped that I could make it to Transfiguration on time. Although I wasn't particularly fond of Transfiguration, I had one thing that I looked forward to: Emily. We had class together and although we didn't sit together, I saw this as my chance to create some damage control for Pansy's outburst.

Emily would surely understand; this was all just a mistake. Whatever I had done meant nothing, anyways.

I dressed quickly before smoothing my hair back in the mirror, and striding out the common room. However, I was a couple minutes late. But that didn't bother me, of course. Late was my thing.

I pushed the doors open to McGonagall's class, hearing her voice get louder as I walked in. She stopped dead in her lecture when she saw me shut the door behind myself.

"Mr. Malfoy, I hope you have a good explanation for your tardiness today" she droned as the class fell silent upon my arrival. She was always one for witty remarks.

I sniggged at her, "Not particularly," as I shoved my free hand lightly into my pocket.

Blaise laughed in the corner, along with Pansy's hyena laugh. I made my way over to Blaise in my usual desk, and ignored McGonagall as I sat down.

"Not so fast Mr. Malfoy. You have the pleasure of sitting in the front row with me today, as well as detention tonight" she said sternly over her glasses.

"And 50 points for having no excuse for being late" she added.

"Oh come on now Professor, that seems very unfair" I said in my convincing voice.

Who was I kidding? This was McGonagall. There was no way you could sweet talk her even a smidgen.

"Now, Mr. Malfoy. Front and center" she said, pointing to an open seat directly in the middle.

I looked to the right of the seat; Lavender Brown. Could be worse. And to the left...

"Sure sure, Professor" I said, quickly walking to the front.

My sudden excitement to get to the front was, of course, for one reason only.

As I slowly approached my seat I slid in smoothly and shot one charming smile as I leaned back in my chair at Emily. I wasn't sure what her reaction would be, but considering I was a Malfoy I assumed it would be good. I was forgiven by girls easily.

But, as I should have expected, she had immediately turned to her left and started up a conversation with some other Slytherin girl. I had never seen Emily converse with many other people, and I didn't recognize her friend either.

_Maybe I should have done some homework; investigate a little, _I thought.

I furrowed my brow, noticing her rejecting body language.

"Now class, can someone please recite three transfiguration spells from last year?" McGonagall asked.

I leaned my head on my desk, hoping this class would go by quickly so that I could speak to Emily.

How could I make sure that I could see her after class? Would she even listen?

_Of course she would_. How could I forget I was a Malfoy.

Some time later, McGonagall wrapped things up. "Class dismissed" she said simply.

"And Mr. Malfoy, my desk now please."

I scowled at McGonagall, glancing back and forth between a quickly disappearing Emily and her. I lowered my head and made my way over to the her.

"Detention, 8 o' clock sharp in this very room, Mr. Malfoy" she said sternly.

I nodded in defeat and turned around to exit the classroom. Blaise was outside waiting for me.

"Detention already?" he teased.

"Shut it" I said, searching the halls for any sign of Emily.

I spotted her heading off down at the end the hall about to round a corner, and took off quickly after her. I heard Blaise shout something behind me but I wasn't paying attention any longer. As I made my way pushing hard past several first years and a group of second year girls, I was finally within speaking distance.

"Hey!" I shouted, careful not to expose my interest in her to others. I didn't normally just go around shouting out girls names in the halls; it was always the other way around.

Emily stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around to face me some twenty paces away. She wasn't smiling, and I mentally punched myself for this whole situation. We stood there in silence for a long couple seconds. Why wasn't she talking? Girls always had to make things difficult.

_Just go up to her, explain the situation, and make up, _I said to myself.

This should be easy. Most girls were forgiving if you just flirted your way around them.

"Where are you going?" I said.

"What?" she said, looking dumbfounded.

What was she confused about? The question was simple...

"Ummm" I stammered, going through things in my mind I could say to patch this up, quickly. I wasn't one for long conversations and pity parties.

But my mind failed me. All my bloody excuses were entirely lame. Why was I always so...so dumb when it came to her? She was like a cancerous tumor in my brain. I couldn't function or think straight. My thoughts became clouded and my mind wanted to be something it wasn't.

It wanted to be sincere.

I gulped roughly, feeling like I was in for some sort of punishment. Luckily, her lips parted, ready to speak.

"Do I need your permission to go anywhere?" she said roughly with her hands on her hips.

I waited, still trying to think of a save. But all I kept thinking about was how I wished to see her green eyes up close, and how snake-like and menacing they must be right now. I looked down and smirked to myself, remembering the first time I had met her all over again.

She huffed and turned around briskly, tearing through the crowded halls as the class period ended and floods of other classes filed out.

I needed to stop her. So I took off after her like a puppy dog following its master.

_Sickening, _I thought. That was an analogy I hoped would never happen on my end.

Just as I saw her round the corner of the hall, a first year clumsily walked in front of me with his head buried deep in a book. I skidded to a stop, took one look at him and pushed him aside, casting his glasses on the ground.

But to my frightening surprise, as continued walking faster and faster, I looked down and around the corner and ran straight into Professor Snape.

We had both been looking down. Of course, our foreheads had collided, painfully. And I fell to the floor in an instant. Professor Snape had managed to collect himself without falling over, and glared down at me.

"Draco, would you mind being a little more careful? One would think you were out of your mind," he said rubbing his temples.

"Yes, Professor," I said absentmindedly, looking frantically past his long robe and at Emily, who had her mouth covered hiding her laugh as I sat on the floor. She saw me catch her, and she quickly turned around and walked out of sight.

"Perfect" I grumbled under my breath.

Blaise came along side of me, smirking down at me.

"Well don't just stand there, Zambini."

"Yes your majesty" he joked, offering a hand.

I pulled myself up and smoothed out my uniform, and then gave him the hardest sock on his right arm.

"Ow!"

"Oh don't be such a girl" I scoffed.

We both started to walked in the other direction of where Emily had been, silent for a few moments before entering the common room for free period.

"So what was that all about then?" Blaise asked, "you know, the whole 'hey!' yell and running into Snape like you were dumbfounded."

"Its nothing" I spit out.

"Still hiding something from me. But don't worry Draco, I'll find out alright. She must be hot if you've got her under wraps. Can't blame you though, I'd definitely steal her away from you."

My chest swelled up immediately with anger, and I slammed my arm against Zambini to stop him in his tracks.

"Watch yourself, Zambini. If you touch her I will come after you" I said through gritted teeth.

He threw up his hands defensively, "Woah woah. Calm down, Mate. I didn't mean that."

"Thats what I thought" I said, shoving him back as I released him.

I left him down below as I went up to my dormitory, hoping to come up with some sort of plan to see Emily.

After the rest of my classes, I walked into the common room with Blaise, sitting down in our normal green velvety chairs that I always claimed. I saw Pansy come running down the stairs, noticing we were here as well.

Did she have some sort of radar on her? It was starting to scare me.

"Draco!" she said, "I heard about your little spill earlier today."

I shifted in my chair uncomfortably, hoping she would get this over with quickly.

"Honestly, I don't know what you're playing at. Someone who witnessed your embarrassing collision with Snape said that they saw you chasing after some girl" she said.

Blaise perked his ears up, clearly listening now.

"Oh yea? Who's the girl, Pansy" he asked.

"Wouldn't we all like to know" she said, crossing her arms.

"You have all gone bloody mad" I said, flexing my fists in my hands.

"She can't nearly be as pretty as me" Pansy said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"You wouldn't even dream of it" I sneered at her.

She pouted her lips before storming off.

"You're going to regret this, Draco Malfoy" she shouted.

I sighed heavily, thankful that she had left so quickly and easily. My father would definitely hear about this from her parents, but at least I didn't have to face him, not yet.

Blaise had spotted a girl walking past and immediately jumped up in full on action, something I would have gladly joined in on not a few short weeks ago. But I was in over my head. I wouldn't admit that to myself, but I was becoming more aware of the effect Emily had on me.

Out of boredom, I went out into the corridors to see if anything could get my mind off this cancerous spell. But I knew it was about to get worse.

To my surprise, I saw Emily up ahead, walking alone. I quickened my pace and hoped to reach her before she disappeared like todays earlier event. As I neared just inches from her, we had reached the great hall.

I cleared my throat behind her before she approached the doors, and swiftly pulled them open for her. Her surprised gaze met mine, and I smiled crookedly at her.

"May I?" I said, gesturing with my hand for her to enter in front of me.

She didn't change her expression, and continued into the hall after her. Why was she headed this way? Maybe there was some sort of supper I wasn't aware of.

As I followed her in, the hall was nearly empty. There were some students from different houses sitting in groups doing what looked like to be studying. Books were piled high and papers aloof. Emily sat down at our house table and began to set up her space as I stood behind her.

"Can I sit down with you?" I asked apprehensively.

I turned around away from her and cursed under my breath. Since when was I ever apprehensive about anything? My pulse was fast, and I could feel the ego in my chest start to subside. I was in deep trouble.

"Um. Sure" she said after a moments pause.

I eagerly sat down across from her, begging my ego to stay with me a little longer. She began to open her books and read them, and I felt out of place as I had brought nothing with me. But I wasn't here to study, she knew that as well.

"Emily?" I said delicately. I waited for her to part from her books so she could see me.

She looked up at my innocently, and I crumbled beneath my pride.

"I...I just wanted to see you. You didn't give me a chance to explain anything."

"There wasn't anything to explain, Draco" she said sadly, and I melted immediately as she said my name.

_Dammit_, I thought. She was going to destroy me.

"There is. You see...Pansy and I. It's not like that, at all" I pleaded. "She is vicious and will do anything to break girl seen with me apart."

She sat quietly as I went on.

"We do have a past of dating, I admit. But it was only on my fathers request. And the kissing thing, I'm not even really sure what happened. That was my mistake." I hoped that my honest would show something to her, the seriousness in which I was trying to convey.

She shook her head knowingly.

"I know my reputation is somewhat tainted..."

"Somewhat?" she said raising her eyebrow.

She was feisty today, and I could see that in her eyes. I smiled and went on.

"Maybe a lot," I confessed. "But girls have always been objects to me. I've sort of been a lone wolf inside my head all these years. Anyways, I just...I wanted to start out right with you."

She eyed me again. Here I was, being as honest as I had probably been my whole entire life, and she was silent and distant.

I realized that she was the sole reason I was going mad these past few weeks, and I laughed a little under my breath before going on.

"You see, theres something about you that makes me lose my mind. I'm not quite sure how else to explain the feeling. It terrifies me, actually. But I do want to be friends with you, if thats alright," I said, wincing a little at the word 'friends.'

I knew to most girls the word 'friends' was an unwelcome friend, but Emily was different. I understood this, and I knew I had to be delicate with her. I couldn't deny the feelings that had strangely come across me every time I was around her, but I couldn't rush into this. I wasn't ready for the commotion of practically the whole school buzzing around me, or even my father.

No, she would never know my father. I would make sure of that.

She must have seen my eyes darken as I looked down and contemplated my father, because Emily smiled and did something I neither expected or was entirely ready for.

"Ok" she said, letting out a sigh of relief before reaching across the table and delicately resting it on top of my folded hands.

"I'd like that." Her cheeks had turned slightly pink and her smile was glowing.

I felt my face redden and eyes widen in shock as I stared at her soft and pale hand as it sat on top of mine. She must have felt the same feeling I was, as her pink cheeks deepened red. She snatched it away quickly, looking down at her books again.

I shook myself from the wake of her touch and leaned across the table.

"Thanks" I breathed softly. She gazed at me and looked like she herself was about to lose breath. I laughed in my head, noting that she had been so affected by me.

I glanced at the clock, realizing I was about to be late for detention tonight. 7:58, of course. Late with McGonagall was not a good thing.

"Well, I have go to detention" I said hesitantly.

"Oh, right. I remember" she smiled coyly.

We fell silent, unsure of what to say or who was to say anything.

"Will I see you later then?" she said hopefully.

I felt my chest leap forward like it was having a frantic seizure. One thing was for sure, Emily always found a way to surprise me.

"Yeah. I should be out in a hour or two. Meet me on the 5th floor?"

She bobbed her head up and down and I got up from my head. I exited the great hall feeling like tonight may be the best detention and most agonizing of my life.

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**YES! Some action right? I figured I had drug you all along very slowly and painfully. Reviews appreciated. :) Hope you all have a lovely New Year!**


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